Highlights
- Coral Island, an indie farming sim, is introducing new romance options with the addition of the Merfolk Kingdom, including three dateable mermaids.
- The Merfolk Kingdom will open in the fall update, allowing players to meet and interact with 20 mermaids, raising their heart levels and exploring their stories.
- Players can expect potential marriages with mermaids and the possibility of mermaids living on their farms, which would add depth to the game's overall story if it happened. For Stardew Valley fans who wanted to romance that game's mermaids, Coral Island may be worth picking up.
Stardew Valley has long inspired many farming sims, and each game has put their own spin on the genre by injecting compelling storylines and new mechanics to set themselves apart. One such title is so-called Stardew Valley clone Coral Island.
Coral Island is an indie game that's set on a tropical island inhabited by different residents and magical creatures. Like any farming sim, players can befriend and romance characters on the island. Coral Island is still in development, but developer Stairway Games has been consistently updating fans with its future plans. One of them will be the addition of new romance options with the rollout of the new Merfolk Kingdom, a pair of features that Stardew Valley fans could find intriguing.
Romancing Non-Humans in Coral Island
Coral Island players can dive to help rid the ocean floor of trash and the black roots that have been contaminating the island's surroundings. Once they dive deeper and remove enough roots, they'll be able to meet mermaids swimming in the area. Players will also encounter a bridge that will eventually lead to the Merfolk Kingdom.
Stairway Games explained in a series of 2023 dev blogs that the Merfolk Kingdom will officially open in the fall update, coming sometime in September. Players will be able to meet a total of 20 mermaids, and three of them will be dateable in the future. The lovely mermaids are Denali, the Merfolk Kingdom's gatekeeper; Semeru, the head of the guard; and royal princess Miranjani. They will complete the game's lineup of 28 romance characters, making Coral Island an RPG with one of the most romance options.
Unfortunately, the romance option for mermaids might not arrive in time for Coral Island's fall update. Its roadmap showed that Merfolk relationships still didn't have a definite rollout date. However, players might be able to start raising their heart levels with mermaids once the Merfolk Kingdom becomes available. This could at least give players the opportunity to interact with them and get a glimpse of their stories before fully romancing them.
It will also be interesting to see how Coral Island would showcase a Merfolk marriage in the future. The developer has yet to reveal if marriages would extend to mermaids, but players could safely assume that this might be a possibility in future updates. At the same time, it raises questions as to how players would spend their married lives with a mermaid. It's possible that Coral Island will add homes within the Merfolk Kingdom where the main character could live in or use as a resting area during diving expeditions. Or, considering how Coral Island incorporates magic in its story, the mermaids could also be given the ability to transform into humans, so they could walk around the island. The latter would also allow the mermaids to live at the players' farms, and interact with the other residents.
While there are also mermaids in Stardew Valley, players weren't able to date or marry them even if they wanted to. Coral Island will be able to set itself apart with this feature, which could add more depth to the game's overall story. Perhaps even more meaning to Coral Island's messaging of caring for the ocean and the island.
Coral Island is one of the most anticipated indie farming sims right now because of its vibrant world design that injects a bit of Asian culture, fun and productive activities, and a unique cast of characters. What piqued players' interest the most was the variety of romance characters, which included both men and women, and now, mermaids. It just goes to show how creative developers have gotten in order to add their own spin to Stardew Valley-esque farming sims. After all, if games like Grave Seasons could add a serial killer to its romance lineup, then Coral Island could definitely justify including mermaids.
Coral Island is available in Early Access on PC.